On March 22, Microsoft Canada held a conference in Toronto called “Future Now,” aimed at teaching companies how they could benefit from artificial intelligence (AI).

While attending, I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Wade Barnes of Farmers Edge.

Barnes founded Farmers Edge based on his own experiences as a farmer. Farmers Edge has raised $103 Mil, is based in Winnipeg, and is backed by Sequoia and Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, and has created the most comprehensive digital farming platform–used worldwide by commercial farmers to enable them to adopt sustainable farming practices that streamline operations, improve crop yield, cut costs and enhance safety.

This is the third and final interview in a series of interviews conducted at the Microsoft Canada “Future Now” conference in Toronto this past March. The first was a podcast exclusive with Mohamed Musbah, the co-founder and former vice president of Canadian AI start up Maluuba, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2017 Microsoft Research in Montreal. The second was with Professor Mark Skilton of Warwick Business School in the UK.

Karim Kanji is the Canadian Director of Social Media Strategy at iNvolved Media. iNvolved Media was purchased by Active International in 2015. Clients include popular food brands, technology brands and other CPG companies. Prior to joining iNvolved Media, Karim led the paid social media strategy for some of Canada's most popular CPG and confectionery brands for Catalyst/GroupM. Karim started in the social media space when he co-founded and was the President of THIRDOCEAN where he led the creation of digital content for companies including Scotiabank, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Microsoft, Wild Water Kingdom, Palomino Systems Inc. and Techvibes. Karim has also been recognized as a pioneer in podcasting having interviewed people such as such as federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, former MLSE boss Richard Peddie, TVO's Steve Paikin, Canadian serial angel investor Dr. Boris Wertz, HootSuite founder Ryan Holmes, Mathew Ingram, Mitch Joel from Mirium and many, many others. As a demonstration of thought leadership, Karim led the development and execution of reports discussing how technology and digital media have impacted industries such as retail, education, health, gaming, sports and banking.